“You have to be anti-racist”- Lewis Hamilton on combating racism in sport

“You have to be anti-racist”- Lewis Hamilton has demanded that one has to give more than ever in the fight against racism.

Lewis Hamilton, who is now statistically the most successful driver in the history of Formula 1 believes that his success would mean nothing if he isn’t able to curb racism around him despite earning influence over the years.

“Competing and winning championships is a great thing, but what does it really mean? It doesn´t mean anything unless you can help push for change,” he told the Guardian newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday.

“I cannot keep silent during this time. It’s not enough to be not racist. You have to be anti-racist. You have to be against racism and supporting these movements.”

The Briton has set up a commission of experts to help increase the representation of Black people in British motorsports, and routinely takes a knee and promotes Black Lives Matter at races.

No Sports Celebrity has fought against Racism like Lewis Hamilton. Dropped all the brand colors of his Employers! If he was a footballer i think he’d do wat Eto’ said! Let all footballers boycott fixtures on matchday at once.. Let the Organizers suffer financially too

— Emmy Delucas (@EmmyDelucas) November 16, 2020

“There are some drivers who don’t take the knee, and there are athletes out there that don’t. But they stand alongside their teammates still,” he said.

“There are some drivers that I’ve worked with who took the knee initially and they’re like: How long am I supposed to do this for? And it’s an interesting question for them because it obviously shows a lack of understanding.”

“It is very symbolic to continue to utilise that platform and use that message. And it´s important to continue to do it, to keep awareness, because otherwise this thing could die a quiet death and go back to how it was in the past. So I don´t see this changing for some time.”

Wan things to be faster

Hamilton believes that he would expect a major change in the attitudes of people in F1 towards racism by the next decade but is motivated to make things better as soon as possible.

“Yes, we have this Black Lives Matter moment and there are a mic and people are hearing it, but you´ve got to really do the work to activate change,” he added.

He said he was talking to F1’s commercial rights holders Liberty Media for a long-term role “to try to help them progress in the right direction and continue to bring in new audiences.

“I´ll probably do that as a side job. I honestly couldn´t be more excited about it,” he said. “On one side, I don´t want the time to ever go by fast. On the other, I can´t wait till I start this new chapter of my life.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

Read More